Bednaya Nastya

When "Poor Anastasia" started here in Greece I intended to ignore it but after the first episode I was hopelessly addicted. The atmosphere that is created by costumes, locations and characters transfered me to my childhood when I was terribly fond of fairy tales. Moreover, a number of experienced actors manage to back up the whole story and the new generation of very talented and motivated actors give this production the energy and colour that it needs to move on. My absolute favourite: Daniil Strakhov (Vladimir I. Korf) who develops from a difficult, hot tempered, selfish big boy to a brave, tender, caring, mature man of honour. I started getting interested in Russia just a short while ago and I've been trying to get reliable information on country and culture through well made docus. "Poor Anastasia" is my first insight into everyday Russian TV culture and into its current development and this is especially interesting considering the experiences and changes that Russian society has been going through for the last 10 to 15 years. "Poor Anastasia" gives me an idea what people like in contemporary Russia and why they might like the glamour, luxury and values and attitudes reflected by the characters. "Anastasia" certainly conveys a nostalgic picture of Russian 19th century glory but it also contains a certain amount of criticism and revolution e.g. the poor position of slaves, disobedience towards the monarch etc. In general: the whole team of "Anastasia" did a great job and I don't intend to miss any episode, well done and congratulations Russia!!! My next project: read Russian literature (Pushkin was mentioned in the series).